As the years go by and the price of fuel becomes higher and higher, it becomes more important that the heat loss by convection through the windows of buildings be reduced. This is particularly true in the case of residential buildings, where ther is a greater likelihood of the windows being ill-fitted and loose. In the past, it has been common practice to provide heavy, insulated drapes over large windows in homes, whereby a certain amount of radiant and convective heat loss is prevented. The ideal system is to have a dead air space between the interior and the exterior of the house in the window space. It has been a common but expensive practice to provide double-thickness glass in the lights of residential windows, but this still does not prevent leakage around the window and through cracks. While metal shades have the effect of reducing the radiation to and from a room (therefore preventing heat loss in the winter), they have little effect on convection loss. Various means, such as covering the interior of the window frame with a clear plastic-like film and cementing it in place suggest themselves, but most of these are either unsightly or are not easily removed and stored when it is desirable for aesthetic purposes and otherwise to expose the window. These and other difficulties experienced with the prior art devices have been obviated in a novel manner by the present invention.
It is, therefore, an outstanding object of the invention to provide window insulating apparatus which, when in use, provides excellent sealing against the loss of heat by convection through a window.
Another object of this invention is the provision of window insulating apparatus which, when in use, has a pleasing appearance and which, nevertheless, may be easily stored without removing it from the window.
A further object of the present invention is the provision of insulation apparatus which is inexpensive to manufacture and which may be easily applied by a homeowner to a window.
It is another object of the instant invention to provide a window insulation apparatus which is changeable from an operative position (in which it effectively substantially reduces convection heat loss through the window) to a stored position in which it has a pleasing appearance.
With these and other objects in view, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention resides in the combination of parts set forth in the specification and covered by the claims appended hereto.